Doubt plagues a new marriage when a young NASA engineer focuses more on the Apollo 11 moon landing than his own future in this poignant short story by bestselling author Olivia Hawker.Alan is able to imagine every way critical equipment might break during the launch and landing of Apollo 11. But his experience in preventing cosmic disasters does nothing to prepare him for the pressures of a hasty marriage to a woman he barely knows—or the strain of keeping up appearances amid the shifting social attitudes of the late ’60s. When a crisis at home forces Alan back to earth, he’s faced with a choice he doesn’t know how to make: whether to let go or move forward.Olivia Hawker’s Landing is part of A Point in Time, a transporting collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives. Read or listen to each immersive story in a single sitting. Read more

Gaza Writes Back is a compelling anthology of short stories from fifteen young writers in Gaza, members of a generation that has suffered immensely under Israel’s siege and blockade. Their experiences, especially during and following Israel’s 2008-2009 offensive known as “Operation Cast Lead”, have fundamentally impacted their lives and their writing. Their words take us into the homes and hearts of moms, dads, students, children, and elders striving to live lives of dignity, compassion, and meaning in one of the world’s most embattled communities. Readers will be moved by the struggles big and small that emerge from the well-crafted writing by these young people, and by the hope and courage that radiate from the authors’ biographies. Read more

"Reading a perfectly plotted Agatha Christie is like crunching into a perfect apple: that pure, crisp, absolute satisfaction." (Tana French, New York Times best-selling author)From the queen of suspense, an all-new collection of her spookiest and most sinister stories, including an Agatha Christie story never before published in the USA, "The Wife of Kenite"!For lovers of the supernatural and the macabre comes this collection of ghostly and chilling stories from legendary mystery writer Agatha Christie. Fantastic psychic visions, specters looming in the shadows, encounters with deities, a man who switches bodies with a cat - be sure to keep the light on whilst listening to these tales.The Last Séance gathers 20 stories, some featuring Christie’s beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, in one haunting compendium that explores all things occult and paranormal, and is an essential omnibus for Christie fans. Read more

A troubled concert pianist searches for a new inspiration among the hidden back hallways of Carnegie Hall in bestselling author Fiona Davis’s bold short story of artistic ambition in 1950s New York.World-renowned pianist Gloria Banderas is at the height of her career when a curious ailment forces her to cancel a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall. The same day, she befriends one of the many free-spirited artists inhabiting the warren of apartments above the theater. With her career and marriage at a standstill, Gloria moves into an empty studio and convalesces among the poets, photographers, and dancers who eke out a living with total dedication to their art. As a return to her old routine beckons, Gloria must decide which parts of her life are worth fighting for.Fiona Davis’s A Wild Rose is part of A Point in Time, a transporting collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives. Read or listen to each immersive story in a single sitting. Read more

Diana Gabaldon, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of the Outlander saga and a Quill Award winner, delivers a treat for her many fans - a collection of three novellas starring the ever-popular Lord John Grey. In these tales, Lord John vows to avenge a murder, investigates a terrifying "night-hag" on the battlefields of Europe, and discovers treason in His Majesty's ranks. Read more

Six best-selling and award-winning authors bring to life a breathtaking epic novel illuminating the hopes, desires, and destinies of princesses and peasants, harlots and wives, fanatics and philosophers - six unforgettable women whose paths cross during one of the most tumultuous and transformative events in history: the French Revolution.Ribbons of Scarlet is a timely story of the power of women to start a revolution - and change the world.In late 18th-century France, women do not have a place in politics. But as the tide of revolution rises, women from gilded salons to the streets of Paris decide otherwise - upending a world order that has long oppressed them.Blue-blooded Sophie de Grouchy believes in democracy, education, and equal rights for women and marries the only man in Paris who agrees. Emboldened to fight the injustices of King Louis XVI, Sophie aims to prove that an educated populace can govern itself - but one of her students, fruit-seller Louise Audu, is hungrier for bread and vengeance than learning. When the Bastille falls and Louise leads a women’s march to Versailles, the monarchy is forced to bend, but not without a fight. The king’s pious sister, Princess Elisabeth, takes a stand to defend her brother, spirit her family to safety, and restore the old order, even at the risk of her head.But when fanatics use the newspapers to twist the revolution’s ideals into a new tyranny, even the women who toppled the monarchy are threatened by the guillotine. Putting her faith in the pen, brilliant political wife Manon Roland tries to write a way out of France’s blood-soaked Reign of Terror while pike-bearing Pauline Leon and steely Charlotte Corday embrace violence as the only way to save the nation. With justice corrupted by revenge, all the women must make impossible choices to survive - unless unlikely heroine and courtesan’s daughter Emilie de Sainte-Amaranthe can sway the man who controls France’s fate: the fearsome Robespierre. Read more

Mexico, 1917. On a farm during the violent tumult of revolution, a more immediate threat prowls in a short, emotional story about survival by the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.She is the adventurer of the family. Her brother, the gentle dreamer. Even as they bond over folktales and hold each other close, their world has never felt so dangerous. Revolutionaries and pelones are in conflict, soldiers have turned into scavengers, and an escaped tiger has slipped up the mountain, looking for easy prey. As the darkest of legends becomes real, a young girl will do anything to save her brother’s life.Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Tiger Came to the Mountains is part of Trespass, a collection of wild stories about animal instincts, human folly, and survival from award-winning, bestselling authors. Read or listen to each in a single sitting. Read more

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder"This volume in Poisoned Pen's British Library Crime Classics series is ideal summer vacation reading." —Publishers WeeklyHolidays offer us the luxury of getting away from it all. So, in a different way, do detective stories. This collection of vintage mysteries combines both those pleasures. From a golf course at the English seaside to a pension in Paris, and from a Swiss mountain resort to the cliffs of Normandy, this new selection shows the enjoyable and unexpected ways in which crime writers have used summer holidays as a theme.These fourteen stories range widely across the golden age of British crime fiction. Stellar names from the past are well represented—Arthur Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton, for instance—with classic stories that have won acclaim over the decades. The collection also uncovers a wide range of hidden gems: Anthony Berkeley—whose brilliance with plot had even Agatha Christie in raptures—is represented by a story so (undeservedly) obscure that even the British Library does not own a copy. The stories by Phyllis Bentley and Helen Simpson are almost equally rare, despite the success which both writers achieved, while those by H. C. Bailey, Leo Bruce and the little-known Gerald Findler have seldom been reprinted.Each story is introduced by the editor, Martin Edwards, who sheds light on the authors' lives and the background to their writing. Read more

In 1962 Virginia, with the world teetering on the brink, a schoolteacher searches for strength and hope in this moving tale by the New York Times bestselling author of Sold on a Monday.Poppy Turner has spent more than a decade teaching children grammar and arithmetic. Suddenly her days are steeped in fears that reach well beyond a classroom filled with air-raid drills and anxious young faces. As a mother-to-be, she worries about bringing a child into a time of such turmoil. To find stability, she will have to decide if she’s willing to look more closely at her own past.Kristina McMorris’s Poppy’s Story is part of Good Intentions, a riveting collection of stories about the instincts, fears, and fierce love inherent in motherhood from award-winning, bestselling authors. Read or listen to each in a single sitting. Read more

A mother makes a heartbreaking choice in this unforgettable story about devotion and sacrifice in World War II–era France by the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names.Marie Vachon experiences firsthand the devastation of the German invasion when she takes in a Jewish refugee named Josiane. A loving, if temporary, home for the displaced child. A second chance at motherhood for Marie. After three years, an inseparable bond is created. It’s one that leads Marie and Josiane to an inevitable but surprising reckoning that calls into question what motherhood means—and where it ends.Kristin Harmel’s The Road Home is part of Good Intentions, a riveting collection of stories about the instincts, fears, and fierce love inherent in motherhood from award-winning, bestselling authors. Read or listen to each in a single sitting. Read more

Presents a collection of tales of danger, hardship, and adventure in the Old West. Read more

For Christmas and the rest of the year!In the title story it's just before Christmas and an unexpected visitor arrives, claiming to be the fiancée of the son of the house. But he knows nothing about it. This muddle has to be sorted out, or it's not only Christmas that will be ruined.There are four other Regency stories to make you smile. A widow finds love when an unusual new neighbour turns up looking for help; a young woman finds a buyer for her father's chemistry laboratory, but gets more than she bargained for; Sir Robert befriends a homely governess and her charge and conveys them to London, where his future is changed forever by a dog and a dimple; a young woman with an extraordinarily beautiful best friend discovers that beauty isn't everything.. These charming and cozy stories are perfect for a bedtime read or for curling up next to the fire in a favorite chair. Happy endings all the way! Read more

A grieving Marquess in need of a wife sets his sights on a beautiful widow in this is delightful Regency romance.After the loss of his wife and children, the Marquess of Huntercombe closed his heart to love. But now that he must marry to secure an heir, he’s determined that the beautiful, impoverished widow Lady Emma Lacy should be his . . .Emma has vowed never to marry for money so must refuse him. But when her children’s grandfather sets to steal them away from her, she has no other option: she must become the marquess’s convenient bride! Read more

A missionary in nineteenth-century Africa suffers a chilling crisis of faith in a short story about deliverance, friendship, and metamorphosis by the award-winning author of Riot Baby.Nathaniel is a well-intentioned, if naive, British cleric feeling blessed to educate a West African village about the benevolent power of God. But as slavers encroach, Nathaniel’s endeavor is daunted by the realities unfolding on the beautiful homeland of his congregation. It seems the Devil has power too. What follows for Nathaniel is a profound spiritual upheaval as he questions his purpose and even his humanity.Tochi Onyebuchi’s A Righteous Man is part of Trespass, a collection of wild stories about animal instincts, human folly, and survival from award-winning, bestselling authors. Read or listen to each in a single sitting. Read more

In this wrenching short story based on a real-life tragedy near Cleveland, Ohio, New York Times bestselling author Paula McLain reflects on one family’s perseverance in the face of the unthinkable.On Ash Wednesday in 1908, Swiss German immigrant Fritz Hirter arrives at his children’s school, where he is the lone custodian. But soon after lessons start, a fast-moving fire breaks out—its cause is unknown, but its effects are horrifying. Although Fritz is soon cleared of any responsibility for the catastrophe, the community continues to suspect him, supremely testing Fritz and his family.Paula McLain’s Ash Wednesday is part of A Point in Time, a transporting collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives. Read or listen to each immersive story in a single sitting. Read more

In this moving short tale of one girl’s search for her lost brother, award-winning author Esi Edugyan offers a vivid, unique perspective on a lesser-known corner of the West African slave trade.At a fort in Cabo Vermelho in 1779, Sisi, a West African girl with a gift for languages, works as a translator for her English enslavers. She was separated from her younger brother after they were kidnapped from their village by the ahosi, fierce female warriors who serve a neighboring king—and her guilt over her failure to protect him has never left her. When unexpected news reaches the fort, Sisi must find her voice, for her brother’s sake and for her own.Esi Edugyan’s We Are Bone and Earth is part of A Point in Time, a transporting collection of stories about the pivotal moments, past and present, that change lives. Read or listen to each immersive story in a single sitting. Read more

"She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me."This indelible utterance stands as a momentous insult in the annals of literature, weaving its threads through the fates of two souls attracted to each other from their very first encounter. This slight birthed prejudices, kindled misunderstandings, and set ablaze a whirlwind journey for our dear couple within Jane Austen's cherished masterpiece, Pride and Prejudice.The potency of an insult is profound, evoking diverse emotions, moulding thoughts, behaviours, and engagements. Insults possess a remarkable capacity to linger in memory, casting their influence across lifetimes, permanently reshaping the path of one's existence. It is not unfair to assert that insults hold lives of their own. Regrettably, even an unborn insult has the power to reshape lives, as our dear couple discovers in this variation.Insults form the fulcrum of the tale in this variation, but not in the way you think. The most infamous insult mentioned above does make an appearance, but not the way you think.This is a book about forgiveness. If you are hoping for our dear couple to exact revenge on the perpetrators, this book may not be for you.This novel is just above 120,000 words in length.This novel features a mellowed-down Fitzwilliam Darcy, who has his "pride under good regulation." Some will even say a swoon-worthy Mr. Darcy. The reason for this is explained at the very start of the novel.There is a passing reference to physical assault on a young girl that is only mentioned in conversation. There is no detailed description of the event. Still, reader discretion is recommended.Our usual villains do make an appearance. Wickham is a real scoundrel, and Miss Caroline Bingley is more cunning.Moderate to high angst level.The story goes through the perspective of many individuals, not just Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy.Bonus Hint: Elizabeth Bennet receives four proposals of marriage, of course, two of them are terrible. What is a JAFF novel without a terrible proposal, after all?More involvement for Mr. and Mrs. HurstTime span around 7 - 8 years with an epilogue that look forward to the future.Not just a love story. The friendship between Bingley and Darcy has sufficient importance in this novel.Lady Catherine is in for a shock. Yet, as always, she is decidedly of use for our ODC.Importance for some side characters, like Mr. and Mrs. Goulding.Indolent Mr. Bennet and a terrible, even cruel, Mrs. Bennet.A Christmas wedding for ODC, though not a holiday romance novelLot of the happenings occur simultaneously at different places and written in different perspective. So it is a "multi narrative" or multifocal kind of story telling.Promise of Happily Ever After (HEA) for Our Dear Couple (ODC)Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, as always, has importance in this novelAnne De Bourgh steals the show for a time. Read more